Lawrence Gee | Marketing, Internet, Creativity, Strategy

Dude, Where’s My iCar?

As I mentioned in a previous post, it’s really important for brands to know who they are.  I came across an article today about VW and Apple discussing a possible “iCar”.  This sounds like a win-win for both companies. 

Apple wins because the demographics that VW targets (or should be targeting) is similar to Apple consumers.  They are youthful, technologically savvy, and like to be unique.  Integrating the iPod and iTunes into cars would be a great test case to show the automobile industry that it should be a standard fully integrated feature in all cars. 

VW wins because this is something they could promote that would resonate with its consumers.  Like its previous promotions, it could offer a free new limited edition iPod with each new car purchase.  A great selling point (or interest point) could be limited edition colors for both the iPod and “iCars”.

All in all this looks like a money maker for both companies and something we should look forward to in the future.

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Locking Up Web Real Estate

Not that Google needs an even bigger stranglehold on web advertising but they now have an exclusive deal with CNN. 

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Know Who You Are

I came across an article today on Saturn’s woes in car sales even though its latest offerings were critically a success.  The article claimed that the manufacturer pulled ads promoting Saturn’s performance and handling since it didn’t seem to resonate with its buyers. 

Much like other struggling car manufacturers, Saturn is having difficulty reinventing itself.  This should not be surprising.  It’s quite difficult to change an imagery so ingrained in the consumer mindset.  Cars, especially, have such a heritage and devotion that you immediately invoke specific meaning when you mention a brand.  BMW = Performance, German Engineering; Toyota = Reliability; Kia = Cheap.

Think about another failed automaker, Volkswagen, who has had its own share of problems reinventing themselves.  They were seen as young, funky,and affordable.  Basically a low-cost European alternative to the Japanese sedans that was more affordable than a BMW or Audi.  VW tried to reach an older, more affluent, audience over the past several years, offering higher quality cars.  The problem was that they also moved up the price point where they alienated their core consumers.  If you notice their advertising today, they too have gone back to basics emphasizing the youth, fun, and affordability of their cars.  Probably a better bet to regain their core customers and play on the strengths of the brand.   

Bottom line is that Saturn also has to figure out who they really are.  They are better served building on their core essense rather than doing a 180.  Yes it’s ok to shift towards a different demographic or segment but it can’t be as drastic as Saturn has done over the past year.  Building a better product was a first step and Saturn did get into my consideration set, but I would never have purchased one no matter how great the product was.  Saturn would be better off being more like VW and being an alternative to the traditional sedan.  In the past, they were known as the car that used plastic side panels instead of metal.  Why not build on the alternative materials branding and become the eco-friendly option for both materials and fuels? Just a thought, but something that sounds more viable than becoming the next BMW.

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Marketing the Graduate Marketing Association

Classes start up again on Monday so I wanted to do some shameless promotion for the Graduate Marketing Association, where I am VP of Marketing.  This summer, I spent some time developing a logo and new website for the organization.

 The fruits of my labor can be found here.  I would love comments and/or feedback if you have any.

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The InVideo Revolution?

YouTube announced today that it is introducing a new ad format for its videos.  Dubbed InVideo ads, the ads are semi-transparent and occupy the bottom 20% of the video frame that start playing 15 seconds after the start of the clip.  After playing for 10 seconds, the overlay ads then shrink to a smaller button.  Of course the ad and button are clickable. 

Right now, YouTube is charging a flat rate of $20 CPM (per thousand viewings).  If you look at the most viewed YouTube video of all time, it has received 55,943,502 views.  That would have cost an advertiser a little of $1.1 million.  Not bad considering some paid search campaign budgets and the amount of impressions it would have received over the past year.

I think this is an important step to get a standardized working video advertising business model.  Video Ads charging a CPC can’t be far behind.  Some kinks that probably need to get worked out are determining what ad goes on which video, can video creators limit and/or choose what ads to display, and measuring the impact of these ads on sales.

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